The Theories of Psychoanalysis and Behaviourism - Case Study Example

First and Last Name Professor’s Name Course Number 13 November 2010 Counselling Methods: Case Study The early years of psychology were dominated by the therapeutic practices set forth in the theories of psychoanalysis and behaviourism. These theories treated the individual, and outlined factors that made up the individual (the internal and external influences on the individual). But, for the most part, the person was not seen as an active participant in the world around him. The individual’s thoughts and actions were either dictated by what was going on inside him/her (or what had happened during childhood) or what was going on in the environment around him/her (how the individual was being conditioned to respond). In the 1960s and 1970s, increasing numbers of therapists were looking for an alternative to these two approaches. They wanted something that would take into account the individual’s active experiences and interpersonal relationships. To this end, the fields of existential, person-centered, and Gestalt therapy were developed (Corey 168). The main things an existential therapist needs to do are: show respect for the client; look for aspects of human behaviour that are not easily explained by other theories; use different types of therapeutic methods together to better understand the client; and understand both the limits and tragedies inherent in life and the wonderful possibilities life has to offer. This type of therapy has proven especially effective for dealing with people coping with feelings of loneliness and the belief that nothing they do has any purpose. The existential therapist believes that the human condition is not stagnant. Individuals constantly recreate themselves through what they do and how they act upon the world. Existential therapy seeks to answer the questions: “Who am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope for? Where am I going?.” According to existential psychology, humans have: the capacity for self-awareness; freedom and responsibility; the ability to discover themselves and develop positive relationships with others; the desire to search for meaning, purpose, values, and goals; anxiety as a condition of living; and the knowledge that he/she will die and cease to exist one day (Corey 139). In the case of the 45-year-old empty-nester Marion, the existential approach is probably the best one to take in developing her therapy programme. Marion has been feeling kind of down lately because the youngest of her three children has just left home to go to university in a completely different state. Her other two children are both married and have busy lives of their own, so she doesn’t get to see them as much as she would like to. For a long time, Marion has been a stay-at-home mum, and now she has no one to look after but herself. Even her husband is away from home a lot because of the demanding schedule of running his own business. Marion is obviously suffering from loneliness. Hobbies that are enjoyable to her friends hold no attraction for her, and she feels that her life has had no purpose other than raising her children well and taking care of her family’s home. She recognizes the fact that now her children are gone, she needs to redefine herself and find a new focus for her life, but she is unsure about what that focus should be. A look at the existential questions that can be asked in therapy and some possible answers might be beneficial to helping Marion find her own way in life. Who Am I? For most of her life, Marion has had no trouble answering this question. She has been a wife and a mother, but now her children don’t need her as much, as her husband is too busy with his own job to spend much time with her. She is on her own now, but she must not be made to feel that she is worthless just because she is lonely. Indeed, during therapy, Marion must be shown how useful she can be to the world now that she does not have as many of the home and family life responsibilities that she used to. It is important at this point, however, for the therapist to show respect for Marion and her life by not diminishing her role as a housewife, since so much of Marion’s identity has been tied to this for so long. The therapist should discuss with Marion how she can be seen as an individual, with her own interests and her own ideas about things. Her trials with different hobbies have not been successful, but that was probably because she was just trying out the hobbies of her friends. She needs to discover what she enjoys doing herself. Prior to this, Marion has had no time to participate in many hobbies. While in therapy, Marion should be encouraged to try new things that she has not thought of before. The therapist should encourage her to think about the things she enjoyed doing when she was younger - before she got married and had children. Marion should be able to come up with at least one thing. The therapist should encourage her to do what she can to participate in the activity she has come up as soon as possible. Once Marion has a better idea of what she enjoys doing outside of her home, she will be able to have better idea of her own identity and her place in the wider world. What Can I Know? This is a much more difficult question to answer. The therapist must stress to Marion that she can know that she has done her best as a mother to raise her children, but now the major portion of that job is over. However, this does not mean that Marion’s life is over. Once Marion has a good idea of what she enjoys doing and has picked up a hobby or two of her own, the therapist should encourage Marion to share the fruits of that hobby with other people, so that she can get some feedback (hopefully positive) about what Marion can do well. Chances are, if an individual enjoys a particular hobby, he/she will be successful in whatever the chosen hobby is. The therapist, at this point, should stress that Marion can know she is more than just a good mother. She is a good knitter, or writer, or whatever she has now chosen to fill up her time. The feedback from others is an important aspect of answering this question. Many individuals, for whatever reason, don’t trust their own perceptions of things. They may phenomenal at something, but if they have no positive feedback, they will not believe it. It is important to stress to those around Marion, if possible, that they should be supportive of her and her new endeavours. They must not lie and say that Marion is good at something if she really isn’t, but they should be able to find some way to encourage her, anyway. If she does not have the support of others, Marion will feel even more alienated and useless than she was before. She begin to feel, obviously incorrectly, that she will never be capable of doing anything right. This could set the therapy situation back quite a bit, as the therapist will have to provide more and more encouragement and try to win Marion’s confidence and trust, since Marion might not trust the therapist after receiving a negative result from following the therapist’s advice. The therapist, then, must find a way to be Marion’s encourager, too, being careful all the while to be completely honest without crushing Marion’s probably very fragile ego. What Ought I to Do? As stated before, the answer to this question is that Marion ought to figure out what it is that makes her unique and useful outside of the home. Encouraging Marion to start a new hobby is one way to do this, but it could also be very important for Marion to start a new career,a s well. Early on in the therapy process, it becomes evident that Marion is somewhat jealous of her husband and her working mum friends who all have jobs. They are contributing to society through their work, while Marion feels that she has nothing to contribute, with all her children out of the house now. What would happen if Marion got a job herself? This is one question the therapist must be ready to ask Marion. And Marion may or may not know the answer to this. Again, just as with acquiring the hobby, Marion may have no idea what she is interested in doing as a career. The therapist, at this point, should encourage Marion to think about her educational background. What training has she received? What skills does she have? What job would she be able to get that would be a good fit for Marion, her interests, and her skills. If the counsellor does not feel comfortable guiding Marion to the answers of these questions, Marion can always be referred to an outside counsellor who specializes in helping people discover, and obtain, their dream careers. Once Marion has a clear idea of what she might want to do, the next step in the therapy should be to get her to apply for a job that will help Marion feel useful and fulfilled as a human being. The counselllor (or the specialized career counsellor) should help Marion prepare a professional resume and send her out into the workforce to share her resume with employers of interest. Once again, the counsellor should tread carefully, just in case Marion applies for a job and doesn’t succeed in getting it. Marion should be reminded that competition for jobs is sometimes fierce. Hundreds of people may apply, but only one person will get any particular job. This should not be seen as a reflection of Marion’s worth as a person. She should simply be encouraged to keep trying until she succeeds because, sooner or later, she is bound to succeed. What Can I Hope For? This is a question that plagues many people, and in this instance, it is a question to which Marion may not be able to see a clear answer as yet. After all, she feels useless and hopeless and depressed now that her life as a stay-at-home-mum is over. But she should not be allowed to feel this way for long. The therapist needs to remind Marion of all the wonderful things life has to offer everyone, not just those who are housewives and mothers. Marion should be encouraged to concentrate on the good things that are present in her life at the moment and to look forward to the good things that can happen in the future. This can include her job and her future success as a career woman, if she has gotten a job by this point. And, since two of her children are already married, she could be reminded that someday soon she might be a grandmother. Of course, with the infrequency with which she sees her children right now, this could be a bit of a downer, as well, thinking that she will not be able to see her grandchildren very often. Still, grandchildren are always something to look forward to, as is the potential success her youngest child will have in college and the eventual graduation she will be able to celebrate as a proud mother. There are many things Marion could hope for, and if given time, she will probably be able to see this for herself. And she may even be able to think of some other things to hope for on her own, once she breaks out of her depression and realizes that she is not a useless member of society. Where Am I Going? This may be one of the most difficult questions for the therapist to help Marion answer, since no one can really see the future. Again, it should be stressed how much Marion has to look forward to in life. The therapist should help Marion develop some goals for herself and help give her strategies to meet those goals. For instance, it seems as if Marion’s marriage could use a little improvement. It might be beneficial for Marion and her husband to take a holiday by themselves to get to know each other better again. What other ways can Marion think of to improve her marriage? What about her job? Where does she see herself in her career in five, ten, fifteen years? What does she want to accomplish, and what can she do to make sure that she is successful? What kind of a mother does she want to be to her children now that they have left the nest? How can she achieve this goal? With these goals in mind and an action plan to achieve them in hand, Marion should have a much better idea than she did before where it is exactly, that she is going. Some advantages of using the existential approach with Marion are: 1) Marion is treated with respect as an individual; 2) She is given the freedom to think for herself and make plans for her own life, something that has not been possible before in her role as a wife and mother; 3) The counsellor acknowledges, and sympathises with, the negative circumstances with which Marion has been faced, but she does not dwell on, or let Marion dwell on, these things. Marion is reminded of the hope that she has for her life and the positive things that could happen to her now that she has more time to explore what she wants for herself; 4) Marion will be shown has to develop positive relationships with others around her, not just her children and husband, and hopefully these relationships will be improved, as well; 5) Marion will hopefully be given a whole new perspective on her life, and she will see that she does still have something to offer the world. The major disadvantage to this approach is that nothing is certain, and the questions that need to be answered during the therapeutic process do not all have very easy answers. The therapist must be very sensitive and supportive, and it will take a special person to fill this role in Marion’s therapeutic process. Still, assuming that the existential therapy is followed to the letter, a positive outcome can surely be expected for Marion and her future as an individual. Works Cited Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education, 2009. 8th edition. Read More

She recognizes the fact that now her children are gone, she needs to redefine herself and find a new focus for her life, but she is unsure about what that focus should be. A look at the existential questions that can be asked in therapy and some possible answers might be beneficial to helping Marion find her own way in life. Who Am I? For most of her life, Marion has had no trouble answering this question. She has been a wife and a mother, but now her children don’t need her as much, as her husband is too busy with his own job to spend much time with her.

She is on her own now, but she must not be made to feel that she is worthless just because she is lonely. Indeed, during therapy, Marion must be shown how useful she can be to the world now that she does not have as many of the home and family life responsibilities that she used to. It is important at this point, however, for the therapist to show respect for Marion and her life by not diminishing her role as a housewife, since so much of Marion’s identity has been tied to this for so long.

The therapist should discuss with Marion how she can be seen as an individual, with her own interests and her own ideas about things. Her trials with different hobbies have not been successful, but that was probably because she was just trying out the hobbies of her friends. She needs to discover what she enjoys doing herself. Prior to this, Marion has had no time to participate in many hobbies. While in therapy, Marion should be encouraged to try new things that she has not thought of before.

The therapist should encourage her to think about the things she enjoyed doing when she was younger - before she got married and had children. Marion should be able to come up with at least one thing. The therapist should encourage her to do what she can to participate in the activity she has come up as soon as possible. Once Marion has a better idea of what she enjoys doing outside of her home, she will be able to have better idea of her own identity and her place in the wider world. What Can I Know?

This is a much more difficult question to answer. The therapist must stress to Marion that she can know that she has done her best as a mother to raise her children, but now the major portion of that job is over. However, this does not mean that Marion’s life is over. Once Marion has a good idea of what she enjoys doing and has picked up a hobby or two of her own, the therapist should encourage Marion to share the fruits of that hobby with other people, so that she can get some feedback (hopefully positive) about what Marion can do well.

Chances are, if an individual enjoys a particular hobby, he/she will be successful in whatever the chosen hobby is. The therapist, at this point, should stress that Marion can know she is more than just a good mother. She is a good knitter, or writer, or whatever she has now chosen to fill up her time. The feedback from others is an important aspect of answering this question. Many individuals, for whatever reason, don’t trust their own perceptions of things. They may phenomenal at something, but if they have no positive feedback, they will not believe it.

It is important to stress to those around Marion, if possible, that they should be supportive of her and her new endeavours. They must not lie and say that Marion is good at something if she really isn’t, but they should be able to find some way to encourage her, anyway. If she does not have the support of others, Marion will feel even more alienated and useless than she was before. She begin to feel, obviously incorrectly, that she will never be capable of doing anything right. This could set the therapy situation back quite a bit, as the therapist will have to provide more and more encouragement and try to win Marion’s confidence and trust, since Marion might not trust the therapist after receiving a negative result from following the therapist’s advice.

The therapist, then, must find a way to be Marion’s encourager, too, being careful all the while to be completely honest without crushing Marion’s probably very fragile ego.

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